Welcome to NeighborwebSJ

NeighborWebSJ is a local online news site that grew out of a need for San Jose’s residents to connect with each other and City Hall in order to promote civic engagement. NWSJ covers local and community news with a focus on the diversity of its residents and their efforts to make their neighborhoods cleaner, safer and engaged. NWSJ is edited and published by Janice Rombeck, a former San Jose Mercury News editor and reporter, and supported by a grant from the Knight Foundation.

A four-year effort to regulate the estimated 100 medical marijuana dispensaries in San Jose will come to a conclusion on Tuesday, May 20, as the San Jose City Council votes on a proposal that aims to provide safe access to medicine for ill people while keeping drugs and crime away from neighborhoods and businesses.

After three hours of presentations, public testimony and posing questions to staff members and Santa Clara County officials invited to the Tuesday, May 13, meeting the council voted unanimously to postpone the vote on pot club regulations to give them time to sort through the many changes proposed by advisory commissions and each other.

“Please don’t pass this tonight,” resident Susan Landry told the council. “It’s not ready. There are too many supplemental memos that conflict with each other. It’s hard to sort out, as a community member, what we’re voting on. “

The council now will vote on regulations that control where pot clubs can be located and how they will operate at the May 20 afternoon meeting that begins at 1:30 p.m. at City Hall, 200 East Santa Clara Street. The meeting can also be viewed on the Internet or Cable Channel 26. There will be no more public testimony at that meeting. Continue reading

San Jose City Manager Ed Shikada describes the proposed 2014-2015 operating budget as stable but fragile, with a forecast of “flat” over the next five years.

Mayor Chuck Reed at a 2013 budget meeting.

In other words, San Jose will need to keep its belt tightened through a series of shortfalls or thin surpluses, and would need a new source of revenue, such as a sales tax, to increase spending for public safety, roads, economic development and neighborhood services.

Branch libraries will continue to be open only four days a week, neighborhood streets will continue to deteriorate and community centers will continue to offer limited activities and programs, with 42 centers still operated by outside agencies in a re-use program.

But there are also some gains in the proposed $1 Billion General Fund Budget and the nearly $2 Billion operating budget. The addition of seven Community Service Officers will bring the total to 28 positions, and four park rangers and three code enforcement officers will be added. The budget also adds $3.5 million for homeless services. The South San Jose Police Substation will finally open as a home for community service officers and as a site for training and recruiting.

All this and more will be presented and discussed at a series of community budget meetings that began last week in San Jose City Council District 3. There are nine more scheduled throughout the city.

The budget, which was released on May 1, 2014, follows the direction of Mayor Chuck Reed in his March Budget Message, and proposals by council members. The council will also start work on this budget this week in a series of budget workshops scheduled for May 7 to May 15.

Need to report suspicious activity in your neighborhood? There’s an App for that.

City Connect San Jose, which is a free App available for Apple and Android phones, allows you to access crime maps, submit an anonymous tips, receive crime alerts in real time and link instantly to San Jose Police Department social media.

You can type in your address and view a map of recent crimes in your area by type of crime, from homicide to disorderly conduct. You can view all the crimes or select one type of crime. You can also read a blog from your Division Captain.

You can’t, however, file a crime report. You still have to do that from a computer screen, on the phone or in person. Also, an emergency call – threat to life or crime in progress — on a smart phone uses 408-277-8911, not 911.

City Connect San Jose was one of the crime-fighting tools identified by the SJPD at a well-attended session on police strategies to keep communities safe at the recent Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force Summit at Mt. Pleasant High School.

While praising the progress of San Jose’s national recognized Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force in welcoming comments to the attendees of the February 8, 2013 event, Mayor Chuck Reed added, “ The gangs don’t stop. We need to get better every year. You can help us do that.” Continue reading

News Briefs

July 31 is the Deadline for San Jose Groups to Apply for CAP Grants

The City of San Jose is accepting applications for CAP grants through the online
WebGrants page. Deadline to apply is 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 31, 2014.

Applicants can either register or log in to start the online process to compete for grants from $300 to $1,500 per organization. More information is on the CAP Grant Cycle 28 can be found on the
United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County Web page. UNSCC administers the grants for the city.

The popular Community Action and Pride program funds such activities as social mixers, Dumpster Days (cleanups using dumpsters rented from the city), newsletters and National Night Out events. Grants also are used for liability insurance required by the city for events in public parks and buildings.

For answers to questions, contact Ernest Guzman at the City Manager’s Office, (408) 535-8171, earnest.guzman@sanjoseca.gov or Ken Podgorsek at UNSCC, (408) 981-3833, sjgrants@unscc.org.

Neighborhoods Gearing Up for National Night Out

Want the San Jose Police Department to be part of your National Night Out event on Tuesday, August 5? You have until Friday, July 25, to register at the
SJPD Website or by contacting the SJPD Crime Prevention Unit at (408) 277-4133.

Celebrating its 31st anniversary, National Night Out is a nationwide movement to get residents to know each other and their police patrol officers in an effort to make their neighborhoods safer.

Many neighborhoods throughout San José and Santa Clara County will host such events as block parties, ice cream socials and barbecues. Once your neighborhood is registered, the SJPD will put it on our list of event sites to visit during the evening.

For more information on the National Night Out organization, visit the
NNO website.